Mr. Ferrell's surprise 75th birthday
December 3, 2005 -- I had the distinct pleasure of attending the surprise 75th birthday party of the single greatest teacher I ever had, Mr. Ferrell. Mr. Ferrell (I still cannot call him Bill, to this day) taught AP English and Drama. I pretty much lived under his guidance my junior and senior years...particularly the latter. With all the plays, TAing one of his other classes, and student directing other plays, I saw an awful lot of him.

I was contacted by one of his daughters about a month earlier, after a fortuitous referral by Corey Niner. I jumped at the opportunity to attend. I flew out to Phoenix for the day, staying over to Sunday.

About 60 or 70 people attended the party, with probably 80% of them being drama kids. To the person, every one I spoke with shared the same sense of respect and gratitude I feel towards the man. He was clearly such an important figure in all of our lives, and all of us knew we'd feel negligent if we didn't use this opportunity to say thank you in person.

Click here to see my birthday card letter to Mr. Ferrell. It pretty effectively captures my feelings about the man.

I am happy to say that Mr. Ferrell looks fantastic and is every bit as sharp as he ever was. He's been "retired" a few years now, but apparently still teaches at Glendale Community College (English 101/102 and Theater) two days a week, and plays golf three days a week. I can only hope that I'm as mobile and nimble-minded as he at that age. And as respected, as well.